Power corrupts, even the honest, and veteran movie hard head Barton MacLane betrays his own integrity so he can move on from the prosecutor's office to the governor's mansion. He has smashed the life of crime for many a mobster, and when murder allegedly takes the life of big shot Lyle Talbot, MacLane puts his wife, Dorothy Burgess, on trial. In the meantime, Talbot sits in hiding with his mistress Charlotte Wynters, contemplating the whereabouts of his insurance policy as wifey stews in prison and MacLane takes the governor's oath of office.
An outlandish plot but fine performances rises this above normal B crap, although Peggy Nash is extremely cloying as the moppet like toddler who didn't stick around to watch the mysterious stranger fall several thousand yards to his obvious death. The scream this minor character gets one of the most horrifying deaths in movie history, giving me shudders as I listened to his final sounds. A cameo by Erskine Johnson as himself adds journalistic credibility. This tries to tell a unique story but certain details left me cold. Wynters reminded me if Veda Ann Borg with her dry, caustic delivery, but lacks screen charisma. Talbot's character is sloppily written, leaving this only to MacLane to raise the bar. A twist involving MacLane and Burgess comes out of nowhere and makes absolutely no sense, tossing the plot and motivations out the window and destroying credibility altogether.
An outlandish plot but fine performances rises this above normal B crap, although Peggy Nash is extremely cloying as the moppet like toddler who didn't stick around to watch the mysterious stranger fall several thousand yards to his obvious death. The scream this minor character gets one of the most horrifying deaths in movie history, giving me shudders as I listened to his final sounds. A cameo by Erskine Johnson as himself adds journalistic credibility. This tries to tell a unique story but certain details left me cold. Wynters reminded me if Veda Ann Borg with her dry, caustic delivery, but lacks screen charisma. Talbot's character is sloppily written, leaving this only to MacLane to raise the bar. A twist involving MacLane and Burgess comes out of nowhere and makes absolutely no sense, tossing the plot and motivations out the window and destroying credibility altogether.